The VOD Coalition’s reply to the Commission's consultation on 'the future of the electronic communications sector and its infrastructure'

The European VOD Coalition welcomes the opportunity to provide input to the European Commission’s exploratory consultation on 'The future of the electronic communications sector and its infrastructure.'

As VOD services, we have always supported a well-functioning telecommunications infrastructure and connectivity in Europe. Having sustainable networks is vital to be able to distribute our content to European consumers. The Coalition members firmly believe that the existing Open Internet framework is not only the best solution for the present, but also for the future of European connectivity. This framework has already enabled high investment, affordable prices, and a diversity of services and connectivity offerings for the benefit of all Europeans.

In our submission, we have elaborated on how the Coalition members, as Content and Application Providers (CAPs), already cooperate with Internet providers across Europe and have a symbiotic and mutually beneficial relationship. Our content supports ISPs in retaining customer subscriptions and even increasing demand for premium high bandwidth subscriptions. On the other hand, without ISP networks we would not be able to deliver our content to European consumers. We thus do not think that this equilibrium should be endangered via unnecessary changes to the framework and/or to the relationship between content and Internet providers.

You will find the full position paper below.